Article
The formation of a College, intended Royal College, is a rare event in healthcare. The birth of the College of General Dentistry (CGDent) brings new opportunities, standing and status for the profession. The gestation period was long and challenging, but thanks to the vision, unswerving resolve and generosity of colleagues included in the College's Roll of Honour (https://cgdent.uk/support/roll-of-honour/) and others, such as the College Trustees and Ambassadors, the College has been established. This historic event will be celebrated at a formal launch of the College in the coming months, at or around the time the Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP(UK)) completes its separation from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and transfers to the College. The launch, although hugely important and significant, will be viewed as the end of the beginning for the College, which is determined to meet the needs and expectations of members and, in the process, acquire substantial national and international standing and respect.
The purpose of the UK-wide College, developed for all members of the dental team, is to foster excellence and confidence in oral healthcare. This will be achieved through promotion of the College's much-needed career pathways for all dental healthcare professionals, new standards, based on those developed by the FGDP(UK), intra- and inter-professional working and the nurturing of a strong community spirit among members. The sooner more dental healthcare professionals join the growing membership of the College, the sooner the College will have the power and influence to be a major player in shaping oral healthcare provision to best meet post-pandemic needs and expectations. Also, the more members and support the College gains, the stronger the case to be made for a Royal Charter. The College is too important to the future of dentistry to leave to others to join and support. Everyone in the profession will benefit from its existence. The sooner membership of the College becomes the norm, the sooner major benefits and aims will be realized.
When future generations of dental healthcare professionals look back, it is anticipated that they will wonder how the profession managed to attract gifted, ambitious young people without career pathways in primary care, set standards that won public trust and confidence, and made dentistry a highly respected, state-of-the-art biomedical healthcare science in the absence of a well-supported Royal College. The College's Roll of Honour, which will remain on the College website and be specially reproduced and put on permanent display when the College obtains its own premises, will celebrate all those who helped establish the College. Names may be added to the Roll up until the formal launch of the College. So, it is not too late to contact me about becoming an individual or corporate Founder, Founding Contributor or Contributor to the formation of the College – a unique opportunity to go down in history as having ‘put your shoulder to the wheel’ when dentistry most needed new leadership, a united voice and collective purpose and direction. If nothing else, sign up as a supporter of the College (https://cgdent.uk/support/supporters/) and spread the message of the mission and vision of the College to as many other colleagues as possible.
Once the College is fully established, subsequent to the transfer of the FGDP, and membership having been opened up to all GDC registrants, past and present, and suitably qualified oral healthcare professionals overseas, it will have an academy, faculties, schools and fora for members with shared backgrounds, interests and expertise. The College will be advised on its evolving structure, direction of travel, priorities, member benefits, means of communication, and much more, by an elected College Council and an appointed Advisory Strategy Group, which was established a few months ago. The College's Board of Trustees will increasingly focus on its purpose, governance and sustainability, with the support of the College's rich mix of Ambassadors drawn from across the profession and other walks of life. The College will provide many, varied opportunities for member engagement, which will be central to future success and the creation of a motivated professional community within the College. Individually and collectively members of the College will change dentistry for the better.
Getting the College to where it is today has been a major undertaking. It is acknowledged that much remains to be done to begin to realise the full potential of this historic, hopefully transformational development. The College is, however, now firmly part of the dental scene and the growing number of those presently involved are resolute in taking matters forward. Help yourself, help your dental team, help your profession towards a better future by joining and contributing to the further development of the College. Your intended Royal College is for all oral healthcare professionals, dental teams and groups large and small, and your peers, colleagues, mentors, acquaintances and friends in dentistry who are looking for new leadership, career pathways, standards, patient and public confidence and trust and everything else the College will bring. If you are not already a member, act now to join (https://cgdent.uk/join/) and contribute – your College needs you, and you and the rest of dentistry need the College.